Junior welterweight sensation Lucas Matthysse improved to 33-2
with 31 knockouts by taking out Mike Dallas, Jr, 19-3-1, 8 knockouts, with a
single right hand that had him out cold before he hit the canvas. The time was 2:26 of the first round.

Dallas appeared
nervous and a bit tight in the early portion of the round, moving and mapping
out his territory using his speed. Matthysse stayed relentless as usual working
his way in and looking to drop the hammer. Coming into the bout, Dallas hoped to improve on his win
streak under trainer Virgil Hunter. His game had appeared to mature under
Hunter’s tutelage and by all accounts he had an excellent camp heading into
this bout.

Matthysse,
loser of two very close decisions to Devon Alexander and Zab Judah, but
on a recent roll, was looking to cement his position as the most
dangerous fighter at 140 pounds. But at 2:26 of the round, Matthysse
moved closer to staking that claim as he punched his power right hand
through the jaw of Dallas as
they crowded in close. Dallas’ light immediately went out and he fell
face
first to the canvas. Wisely, referee Robert Byrd fight immediately waved
the fight off. Afterwards, Matthysse said he would like to face 140 pound
champion Danny Garcia as well as any top fighters in the division. The question is: Do they want to face him? In the co-feature, Jesus Soto Karass, 27-8-3, 17 KOs, took
Selcuk Aydin, 23-2 with 17 KOs, to the woodshed over ten rounds, winning by
majority decision scores of 97-93 twice, and 95-95. The fight was nowhere near
that close. Aydin likely had his best round in the first, fighting patiently
and boxing under the tutelage of his new trainer, Adam Booth. But Soto Karass had to have it tonight. Fighting with the urgency of a fighter who had won only
three of his last seven, Soto Karass’ career was on the line as a high level TV
fighter tonight and it showed. He dug to the body consistently early on and
used a patient attack behind a double jab to keep Aydin second guessing all
night. By the time Aydin began to feel urgency, dancing on the outside
and missing with his looping right hand, it was too late. Even as Soto Karass
faded a little down the stretch, his overall work in taming and frustrating
Aydin had paid off. Left hooks, right hands and the ever present jab and body
work were big pieces of the puzzle for Soto Karass. But what won him the fight
was poise. He never allowed the fight to turn into a brawl that would favor
Aydin. Instead he stayed busy and consistent on the way to a well-deserved win. Junior middleweight prospect Jernall Charlo improved to 20-0
with 10 knockouts with a poised win that showed what Charlo can do in the later
rounds with an eight round stoppage over Harry Yorgey, 25-2-1, 12 knockouts. Charlo
was impressive if a bit one gear. Lacking in a consistent body attack and not
exactly cutting off the ring as well as he could have at times, Charlo allowed
a fight that appeared to be over early following two second round knockdowns,
go into the deeper rounds. But the rounds were needed as Charlo stalked Yorgey and dropped
him with a brutal right hand. Yorgey was wobbly even on a knee as had referee Kenny Bayless studied him closely before
waving it off at 1:09 of the eighth.

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